’80s nostalgia is all the rage after the success of Stranger Things, and pretty much everything old is new again. This year will even see the return of Masters of the Universe, in an epic fantasy adventure starring Nicholas Galitzine as He-Man and Jared Leto as Skeletor. But, surprisingly, there’s one epic ’80s franchise that doesn’t look likely to get a reboot anytime soon.
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Like Masters of the Universe and Transformers, M.A.S.K. was an animated action series inspired by a range of action figures and toys. The original M.A.S.K. series launched in September 1985, pitting Matt Trakker’s M.A.S.K. against the forces of Miles Mayhem’s V.E.N.O.M., and it ran for a staggering 65 episodes. A second season drifted away from the show’s core themes, only lasting for 10 episodes, a fantastic movie in 1986, and since then… M.A.S.K. has apparently been dead in the water.
M.A.S.K. Has Everything It Needs To Return
Every episode of M.A.S.K. tended to follow the same pattern: Miles Mayhem and V.E.N.O.M. launched their latest plan, and Matt Trakker assembled a selection of members from his Mobile Armored Strike Kommand. The heroes and villains shared the same technology, making for some pretty epic confrontations. On the one hand, they had vehicles with Transformer-like technology, meaning cars transformed into jets, bikes into helicopters, and trucks into tanks. Meanwhile, they all also wore special helmets that gave their wearers super-powers.
M.A.S.K. had everything. The members of M.A.S.K. all had secret identities, making for hilarious scenes where they dashed away from their personal lives in a riff on the classic superhero trope. There was an enjoyable family dynamic because Matt Trakker’s son (and droid) kept getting dragged into the latest catastrophe. Even better, all this was done against the ultimate kind of sci-fi backdrop, with V.E.N.O.M. routinely pursuing advanced technology. M.A.S.K.‘s first scene was absolutely unforgettable.
There’s Still No M.A.S.K. Relaunch in the Works
Over a decade ago, Hasbro struck a multi-picture deal with Paramount to create a shared universe including several of their toy ranges; G.I. Joe, Micronauts, Visionaries, M.A.S.K., and ROM. An extension of the existing Transformers relationship, this was an attempt to tap into the cinematic universe trend that dominated Hollywood after the launch of the MCU in 2008. Paramount assembled a writer’s room, but plans gradually began to fall through.
The Hasbro cinematic universe’s writers’ room was officially disbanded in 2017. It wasn’t entirely unsuccessful; there were reports it led to the creation of Travis Knight’s Bumblebee, easily the best of the live-actions Transformers films. But producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura later admitted that, while he thought all this was a good idea, nothing else really came out of it. By 2018, there were surprising reports that a standalone M.A.S.K. movie was in the works by F. Gary Gray, but this too came to nothing.
In truth, the shared universe was probably a little too ambitious. We now know that it’s actually pretty difficult to make this kind of cinematic universe work; even Marvel has stumbled after 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, and no rival has had anywhere near that level of success. The current “Energon” story in the comics is the closest we’re ever going to come to the shared universe plan (it’s currently setting up a M.A.S.K. project), but what works in one medium doesn’t necessarily translate well to another.
Masters of the Universe Proves M.A.S.K. Can Work
Everything old is new again, and ’80s nostalgia is now truly a force to be reckoned with. M.A.S.K. has everything it needs to be a success; it’s basically a blend of Transformers with The Fast and the Furious, an idea that really does sell itself. We’re seeing other major ’80s franchises return in live-action now, with excitement building for Travis Knight’s Masters of the Universe – Knight clearly being the master of this kind of adaptation, given his history with Bumblebee.
All this means it’s surely well past time for M.A.S.K. to ride out on V.E.N.O.M.’s trail once again. Not in animation this time, but in live-action, with modern VFX bringing the powers of Spectrum and vehicles like the Rhino, the Thunderhawk, the Piranha, and the Switchblade to life. Hasbro’s earlier plans may have been overambitious, but the potential of M.A.S.K. is frankly unparalleled. Let’s see the laser rays again.
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